A Birthingday Trip

Writers: Chelle, Devin
Date Posted: 10th September 2016

Characters: K'mai, Rhosyn
Description: The two of them disappear for her birthingday.
Location: Elsewhere on Pern, River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 7, day 11 of Turn 8
Notes: Mentioned: U'das, Uetia, Nisheyl

K'mai

K'mai was glad he'd felt things out with Rhosyn because his instinct
was to throw her a party. But she thought there'd been enough
excitement with the outdoor Hatching Feast so K'mai made other plans
for her birthingday.

He stepped into her weyr with a smile. "Ready to go?" He'd asked her
to clear her schedule but hadn't given her the details.

"Well yeah but I'd wish you'd tell me where we're going. It's hard to dress
for cold or hot or anything when you don't have an idea." Improvising, she'd
layered. She'd be fine with the cold of /between/, but then could remove

clothing if things turned out to be more like home. Turning to him, she gave
the bluerider a curious look. It'd been awhile since she'd had time to
run off with
K'mai for adventures.

"It should be warm." He chuckled. "You do like having things planned
out, don't you?"

"Warm hm? Well, it helps you know. We women can't just strip down to our
underwear in every part of Pern, I've been told. Bad for the Weyr's reputation,
they say." She made a humph noise in the back of her throat before smiling and
following him out. "Let's go, K'mai. It'll be good to get out of here
for a bit."

A short while later they were spiraling down toward the grassy shore
of a small lake. As K'mai had hoped, the weather was beautiful: bright
and warm. The area was serene, with no sign of people.

Her eyes traveled over the water, noticing the lack of crowds and noise. The
weather was great and it would be good to be lazy for a bit with no one much
around to judge. Wondering what exactly the bluerider had in mind for them to
do, though, besides swimming which she could easily do at home, she kept her
mind open to options as Sebeth landed.

K'mai slid off the blue's neck and then began to unstrap the carefully
packed items he'd brought along. "Perfect day." He paused a moment to
grin up at the sunny sky. "Would you mind carrying one of these?" He
held out a large basket.

She took it after dismounting and peeling out of the warm leathers of
clothing. Peeking into the basket, she discovered food. That was
always a good sign. "Thanks for this, really. I mean I don't exactly
have people falling on their faces to take me somewhere." In fact, she
was pretty sure most of the rest of their Weyr had forgotten she had a
birthingday. Well except for the headwoman. There was a tray of
sweetbreads with a small card on the table in her weyr that had come
that morning.

"I hope you can be satisfied with one lowly bluerider, then." After
spreading out a blanket, K'mai started setting out food. "I asked the
kitchen staff to make your favorites."

"Lowly? Hey, you've been a Weyrwoman's hatching escort and you're
great when I need waterball ideas. You've been a good friend, K'mai."
Looking at everything and trying not to get caught up in his
thoughtfulness, Rhosyn set down the things and began to help him. "I'm
just sorry with all that going on we weren't able to do this sooner.
So how's life in bluerider land?"

"Well the Weyrwoman just called me a good friend, so things are going
quite well." He laughed. The food was well wrapped so the dishes that
were meant to be served hot were still warm despite the trip
/between/. "My little girl is growing up fast."

"She'll be an interesting one to watch. If she's anything like her
family when she gets older..." Rhosyn had a lot of respect for U'das
and even enjoyed Uetia, on and off the waterball field. The greenrider
wasn't like most of the others. "My daughter is getting older, but
she's still a long way from running around the Weyr which is a
good thing for everyone." Sitting down once everything was ordered,
Rhosyn began to open some of the dishes. "K'mai, sometimes I wish I
could be a lot more like you, you know?"

"In what way?"

"You're so carefree but you still manage to be grounded with your family.
You're better at managing work and play." Of course she had alot more
responsibilities than he did, but that went without saying. "Your attitude
draws people to you."

"True." He spooned a bit of food onto his plate. "But if you were a
lot more like me, you wouldn't be _you_. If you want to change, you
should aim for being the best _you_ you can be. The world needs all
kinds of people."

"I have my bad moments and my good moments like most I suppose.
Alot of the reason I am the way I am is because of how I was treated
in the past." It had only been a few turns still since she'd gotten her
freedom. Sighing heavily, she dug into the picnic he'd brought, thinking
about the next turn to come and what she wanted to come from it.

K'mai didn't want her to feel down on her birthingday. "I think maybe
people don't tell you enough how much they appreciate everything you
do for us. You've led us through a lot of struggles."

It had been a struggle for her to get through it, but she didn't mention
that. This was such a rare moment. K'mai was right. It wasn't often she
received recognition or appreciation. For once, she took in the moment
quietly. Rhosyn didn't do her job for recognition-it was her duty. Still, it
felt nice to have someone say it mattered. "Thanks. And now, I am going
to reward myself with a bite of that cake over there."

Last updated on the November 10th 2016

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A Birthingday Trip